My spouse will not move out of the house and my name is on the mortgage not his. Does he legally have ownership to the house just because we are married? Is there anything I can do to save my house and get him to move out since he does not pay the mortgage? He agrees he wants a separation but will not move out becasue he does not have anywhere else to go. Any suggestions?
Unless there has been some sort of violence or misconduct on his part, there is no way you can force him out of the residence.
You may have to move out of the residence in order to file an action for equitable distribution, and then you make a motion to have the home distributed to you.
Question concerning your response, Erin:
If the home is in your name (deed) and you pay the mortgage, yet your spouse refuses to leave…so YOU decide to leave, does it make it MORE DIFFICULT to receive the property through ED because you are the one that left?
I was just curious. It doesn’t seem fair that the person who actually owns the house must leave (though I understand WHY it has to happen for separation to occur). I was just wondering if the act of leaving HURT the chances of one party getting the house distributed to them (as in this case). I would hate it if the judge awarded the house to the husband because he was the one who decided to stay in the marital home.
While leaving the home is not the ideal situation, if the other spouse refuses to leave there is no other option. In North Carolina the parties have to be separated in order to file an action for property distribution.
Even if the home is separate property (purchased before the marriage) it is still the marital residence which entitles the other party to live there.